A California Couple Went From Pimping To Million-Dollar Bank Fraud

Whether committing low level scams worth hundreds of dollars or
more intricate white-collar schemes netting millions, the
criminal mind can be resourceful — especially when two forces
join to combine into one.

Take the unique case of former gang member Charles Barksdale and
the mother of his child Niesha Jackson. Not your typical Bonnie
and Clyde, theirs is a story of two street criminals who both had
extensive records, Barksdale’s included convictions for violent
crimes and Jackson’s for fictitious checks and false
identification, when they hatched a white collar plan to commit
fraud by robbing banks in an atypical way.

Rather than wielding guns, the California-based duo
masterminded a scheme that included a nationwide network of
“runners” who used prepaid credit cards to eventually steal $2.5
million from more than three dozen banks across the
country.

“This is the first time that I had seen people who
graduated from narcotics, violence and pimping to a million
dollar bank fraud,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Segal
told “American Greed: The
Fugitives.”

According to court documents, Barksdale was a member of the
“G-Mob” gang in Sacramento. He also had ties to the Northern
California Hip Hop scene, and even released a song called “Dollaz
in My Pocket.”

During 2006 to 2008, the couple lived the good life, full
of Gucci and Louis Vuitton. Barksdale talked about it with
“American Greed: The Fugitives.”

“It was fruitful. I’m not gonna say it was not fruitful.
That’s the perks. That’s the same things the bankers do, but they
do it on a bigger level. They getting yachts and airplanes, G5
airplanes and stuff,” Barksdale said. (Watch
More:Hear
Barksdale’s motivation for the
scam.)

But the FBI had a different take.

“He wasn’t buying baseballs and bats for the kids down the
street, he was buying expensive watches, luxury cars, expensive
dinners and going out and enjoying himself,” said Robert Lasky,
FBI assistant special agent in charge for Montana.

Eventually, the law caught up with the couple. Barksdale
pleaded guilty to bank fraud and was serving nearly 11 years in
federal prison when he recently talked with “American Greed: The
Fugitives.”Jackson also pleaded guilty the charge,
but rather than face a maximum 30-year prison sentence, she chose
to run and became a fugitive.

The Scam: New Version of an Old
FraudThe popularity of credit cards was no
secret. According to the financial trade publication The Nilson
Report, consumers transacted $17 trillion on plastic globally in
2010. That same year, credit card fraud losses rose by 10 percent
from the previous year to $7.6 billion worldwide, and of that
fraud, nearly half occurred in the U.S., the report
said.

Fraudsters had attempted cash-advance scams since the late
'90s, according to Doug Johnson, vice president of risk
management policy for the American Bankers Association. But
around the time Barksdale and Jackson began their scheme in 2006,
the way in which scammers committed cash advance fraud
shifted.

“Over the last few years the prepaid card market has grown,
and anytime you see growth you’re going to see criminals in that
market try to take advantage of that growth,” Johnson said.
“Perpetrators like Jackson began committing this type of fraud
with prepaid credit cards, because they’re easier to obtain
versus credit and debit cards, and you can operate more
anonymously with them.”

How It Worked: Bank Robbery With Plastic Instead
of
GunsAccording to federal authorities, a
middle man working for Barksdale recruited pimps who would find
women “runners” to walk into banks, hand a teller a prepaid
credit card and request about a $10,000 cash
advance.

The card was always declined and then it was time for the
pitch. The runner would insist she had enough money for the cash
advance and ask the teller to call the financial institution to
confirm. If the teller took the bait, the runner would then
rattle off a 1-800-number for the teller to dial. But rather than
reach a legitimate representative, Jackson would be on the other
end of the line.One teller, Meay Santiglia, was
working at First Security Bank in Bozeman, Mont., when a runner
attempted to scam her and she unknowingly talked with Jackson on
the phone.

“She was a fast talker. And she said. 'Um, my client's
limit is $10,000 and I can give you the authorization number
right now. I will walk you through to manually authorize the
transaction,'” Santiglia told “American Greed: The
Fugitives.”

Luckily, Santiglia didn’t fall for the scam, but Jackson’s
phone skills were convincing enough that 37 banks across at least
10 states lost money to the fraud.

Federal authorities did not say precisely how the codes
Jackson used worked.

“Ms. Jackson had some knowledge of bank policies and
procedures and she also had a manual that allowed her to discuss
how to force the transactions through,” the FBI's Lasky
said.

He went on to say that it was the technical expertise of
Jackson that made the scam work .But in the end, she was
the one who got away, at least for now, while the father of her
child, Barksdale, was left sitting in federal prison,
contemplating the one thing he’d do differently. (Watch
More: Hear
how investigators tracked the fraud.)

“Not get caught. That’s easy,” Barksdale said, laughing. “I wish
I didn't get caught. That’s about it, you know.” The U.S. Marshals were searching
for Niesha
Jackson who also goes by the names Nesha Howard
and Lisa Smith. She's 5'2" and 125 pounds. Segal described her as
intelligent and good at changing her appearance. Please contact
the Marshals at (916) 930-2030 with tips. Cash rewards were
available for information leading to her arrest.